Sony FE 50mm F1.2 GM is the 60th Sony FE lens. Sony made the 60th lens a slightly special and noticeable by delivering the first FE lens with a big aperture F1.2. The Sony FE 50mm F1.2 GM definitely a Pro-grade build quality and the widest FE lens Sony ever made.

Sony had released many 50mm lenses in the past decade, namely, FE 50mm F1.8, 55mm F1.8, etc. but it took Sony ten years to announce the most satisfying and a design worth calling ‘G Master’ that fitted with the highest-grade of glass elements to produce outstanding images, winning autofocus that is, fast, quiet, and very accurate by using XD (Extreme Dynamic) Linear Motors.

Being a portrait photographer, 50mm lens is definitely one of my favorite focal length. That is why I have tested the latest Sony FE 50mm F1.2 GM three rounds before I put up this article. Perhaps this is the best 50mm F1.2 lens I ever tested.

The Sony Zeiss Planar 50mm F1.4 was one of my favorite 50mm lenses added to my dry cabinet for a simple reason, it is sharp, produced superb image quality and the best auto focusing 50mm lens at that point of time. It was an amazing lens till I tested the FE 50mm F1.2 GM. As compared to the FE 50mm F1.2 GM, the planar lens needs some minor improvement on the optics. Yes, the old planar lens delivers good autofocus but it is not as smooth, or as fast and as consistent as compare to the new FE 50mm F1.2 GM. On top of that, the new FE 50mm F1.2 GM is also able to gather extra bit of light, and produce softer and creamy bokeh.

Lightweight and Compact
Sony has stepped into a new era of producing camera lenses with the recent G Master by unlocking a way to make the G master both compact and smaller and optically excellent. It is smaller and lighter compare to the modern 50mm f1.2 lenses from its competitors. But I am not saying that the FE 50mm F1.2 GM is small. It is still consider a heavy and pretty large lens, the FE 50MM F1.2GM weighs 778g which is a lightweight for a full-frame 50MM F1.2 lens with 108mm in height and 87mm in width.

However, if one is going for something lighter or smaller, the Sony FE 55mm Sonnar F1.8 may be a good option.

The lens comes with good build quality, water and dust-resistant and robust with high-end feel. What I like most is the inclusion of de-click switch and AF/MF switch. Overall it is a well designed lens and fit well in my hand.

Image Quality
After having fun with the lens for more than three weeks, I must concluded that Sony engineers had designed a lens that produced superb resolution across the frame down to F1.2; minimization of CA, flare and ghosting, lovely smooth and creamy bokeh. This thanks to the 14 elements in 10 groups, includes trio of XA (Extreme Aspherical) lenses that contribute in resolving power and bokeh, the Nano Ar coating II, minimizes the internal reflections to cut down on the flare and ghosting.

The FE 50MM F1.2 GM is a very sharp lens even at F1.2 and it delivers great details especially in the center of the frame. Extreme corner performance is alight soft, but it is acceptable. Stepping down to F1.4, the increase of corner sharpness is noticeable. And at F2.8 onwards (especially at F4), corner sharpness is simply excellent. However, softness caused by diffraction is noticeable at F11 and beyond.

Like any other GM lenses, the FE 50MM F1.2 GM produces awesome creamy and refined bokeh due to superb optical design. The lens comes with eleven-blade, which helps the bokeh stays circular even as I step down. The precision on the lens’ surface helps is suppressing onion ring bokeh.

After tested the lens for three weeks, CA is well controlled, unless under certain difficult or challenging situation. The FE 50MM F1.2 GM does an excellent job as far as ghosting and flare is concern.

Autofocus: It simply ‘Fast’ and ‘Accurate’
The quartet of XD (Extreme Dynamic) Linear Motors technology provides that moves the two large floating focus groups quickly, accurately and efficiently. The focusing speed is very satisfying even a close focusing.

Overall Impression
After three weeks of fun with the FE 50mm F1.2 GM, I concluded that Sony engineers did a very good job and hit a home run with the 60th FE lens. There are too many likes about the lens, awesome image quality, fast and accurate AF, lovely and creamy bokeh in front and behind the subject, lightweight, robust and well designed.

The high priced tag may be the only hurdle keeping the FE 50MM F1.2 GM out of one’s shopping list, but because the focal length and the super-wide aperture are so practical and useful, it really makes sense to include this best quality lens in your shopping list.

• 50mm prime lens with f/1.2 maximum aperture
• Has 14 elements in 10 groups, including three XA lens elements
• Promises excellent resolution across the frame and strong control of aberrations
• 11-blade circular aperture diaphragm contributes to smooth bokeh
• Four XD linear motors drive fast autofocus
• Close focus distance of 0.4m, delivers maximum magnification of 0.17x
• Weather-sealed at each button and ring
• Weighs 778 grams
• 108mm long with maximum diameter of 87mm
• 72mm filter thread
• Built-in aperture de-click switch
• Includes AF/MF switch